Open Your Eyes: Climbing with Presence and Patience

Climbing asks you to see — really see.

Not just the next hold, but the way your body moves toward it. The tension in your breath. The story you’re telling yourself about whether you can make it. The rock is a mirror. It reflects everything you bring to it.

Renata leading Harpoon at Ship Rock

When we say “open your eyes,” we mean more than just scanning for the next crimp. We mean waking up. To your surroundings. To your fear. To your ability.

At Open Air Guides, we teach more than skills — we teach awareness. The kind that comes from moving slowly, breathing fully, and paying attention to the details:

• Where does your weight really sit?

• What does your partner need from you right now?

• What assumptions are you climbing with?

Outdoor climbing rewards presence and patience — not power or speed. If you rush, you miss what’s right in front of you. If you soften, you adapt. And suddenly, that impossible move starts to make sense.

So come out with us. Open your eyes — to the rock, to your body, and maybe to something in yourself you didn’t know was there.